DESPITE AID, ROMANIAN CHILDREN FACE BLEAK LIVES: www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/01/07/despite-aid-romanian-children-face-bleak-lives/1208b2fa-570a-4219-a123-18c92ea7926f/ Can An Unloved Child Learn to Love: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/can-an-unloved-child-learn-to-love/612253/ The Romanian Baby Bazaar: www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/magazine/the-romanian-baby-bazaar.html Ceausescu’s children: www.theguardian.com/news/2014/dec/10/-sp-ceausescus-children Romania’s Orphans: A legacy of Repression: www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/romania1290.pdf

as someone who experienced sexual abuse and grooming at an early age, the scene where rock is disgusted by one of the twin’s advances and then comforts them forced me to take a breather.

Vampire Twins is one of the most painfully disturbing but emotionally powerful arcs in all of anime

Christ, I didn't realize just how much real history played into the creation of this show until you pointed it out, well done my dude.

the story of the twins is one of the most tragic stories ive seen portrayed and based on real world events in terms of origin. that's why i love black lagoon Rei doesn't shy away from writing his characters to be as human as possible. to have pasts that are baked in as much real world history as possible.

When I tell you this arc shocked me to the core ! I’m Romanian and when I first heard that the twins are some sort of vampires, I thought they were gonna play some stereotypical roles, but as the arc progresses and Ceaușescu and communism was mentioned, their whole story became so much darker and real. And yea, child and women trafficking it was and it still is a national problem, even after more than 30 years after the communist’s fall. It’s very true, real and utterly heartbreaking.

The worst part of their story is that they could have had a good ending with behavioral therapy that did already exist during the 90s both of the twins could've possibly been rehabilitated into mostly normal lives. But it wouldn't be Black Lagoon if anyone developed towards normalcy.

When Balalaika says to kneel, she's not asking, she's seeing into the future.

As a romanian, I have heard stories from the older generation and seen it on TV about the nasty lives in the orphanages during the ceausescu period and early 90s. I can't but feel only sadness for the children who lived in those conditions

I used to work with children with disabilities and/or mental challenges. I had to scroll down a couple of times during the first part of the video. Seeing adults suffer is already terrible, but children... What made this so awful, was to know how much care, understanding and love challenged children need and deserve. And as result of that, to know how little those Romanian children were given, what they deserved. To examples: There are certain mental conditions, where the child does not only stagnate in cognitive development, but regresses, unless the already attained skills are maintained.Once the skill is lost: It's not coming back. With those children, you NEVER take the elevator. Else they could forget how to walk the stairs. Same with shoes, you let them tie their shoes, no matter how long they take. Because all those tiny things make a difference, in what little autonomy and self actualisation they have. Second example would be deescalation. Those children have trouble communicating, either because physical impairments or due to mental reasons (Trauma, ASD, issues with speech development etc.). Together with the fact that they often experience the world differently, that means a good caretaker has to understand the childs perspective and perception, in order to resolve conflicts and dangerous situations and always try to avoid things from escalating preemptively. Or as one of my superiors often said, especially to new staff "It is our job to understand them and act accordingly. If you don't do your job: Go Home, you are not needed here!" Ok I could go on and on about this. All I wanted to say is that those children deserved proper care. I'm not even sure if what they got instead even deserves a name. Another well made video. Goes without saying that you showed a lot of respect to the topic you were covering. Not many KZfaqrs would decide not to monetise multiple videos in a row, out of respect for subject matter and history. And as always you made perfect character analysis, and researched a lot about the backgrounds. The Twins are by far the darkest characters in Black Lagoon imo. All I'm trying to say is: Good Job!

I never quite understood the context behind the twins other than "dictator had fucked up laws that forced these kids to end up in an orphanage and then exploited in fucked up conditions" but knowing this information now? I watched this arc just two days ago as of this message and it's made the arc from unsettling to nearly unwatchable given the context, the twins were messed up but they wouldn't have ended up that way if it weren't because of the actions of one vile monster of a dictator.

This is the one only Arc in Black Lagoon that I never really understood. So thank you so much! 💀

So I was born and Donetsk Ukraine. I was an orphan for the first 3 years of my life. Thankfully I was adopted and brought to the states. One thing that I brought back from ukraine, was my rocking. In order to fall asleep I would have to rock back and forth to calm myself enough to the point where I wanted to sleep. It's still persists somewhat today. It kind of sent a shiver down my spine when he said that rocking was one of the symptoms that the children developed.

I traveled through the Carpathians for the first time in 1998, together with my parents. I remember countless young people and children asking us for money or food at the rest area. I was shocked that such a thing could even exist. how heartless one can be to take advantage of people's suffering.

This arc always makes me cry. Gretels conversation with Rock really hits something in me.

I'm Romanian and yes Ceaușescu did a lot of crazy shit, and know what's the crazy and dark thing now? Some people want him back. They say he did great and under him it was better then now. People DON'T learn if they ignore the history or nitpick... It was encouraged to have many kids and me a "Heroin mom." It was a crazy time and many learned nothing from it.

Mike Carey, writer of The Unwritten Volumes and storyline writer for Hellblazer (the main character in that comic is Constantine), had a very fitting quote: *We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves* I always loved the Black Lagoon anime and manga. It brought something different to me as far as themes, characters, and how they develop. Your videos on the series, imho, really sheds some great insight of the storytelling of the series. Love it!

Their creation is as disgusting as what remains of their victims after they are done playing with them. I can only imagine the fear those bastards had that taught them to act that way in the first place when the tables flipped and the two vampires cut them up too

As Benny told Rock, "stories like this don't have happy endings". Knowing the limited information about them we got during the 3 episodes they appeared in always left me wanting to know more about them and this video delivered. It's twisted that things like this can actually happen irl, but knowing helps give a little more insight as to why these characters are who they are, plus its just always nice to know a little more about real world history, messed up as this is. Another banging BL video from the Professor 👌, amazing job with the research and effort you put into making this my guy 💯

Out of all the arcs this was the most messed up. You could feel Rock's anger.

This video brought a whole new level of empathy to those characters. Amazing work bruv!🙌🏿

I knew cases like in Black Lagoon happen but I had no idea how closely based on a specific example it was. Stuff very similar though not necessarily all of it happens so I assumed the anime was trying in a way to raise awareness of that but to know that it’s so specifically a real case is astounding.

Black Lagoon seems to be trending lately, maybe you had a hand to play in that! These twins are some the most tragic and twisted characters I have encountered in fiction. Even in the bleak alleyways of Roanapur those two stand out as a sickening tragedy. Innocent and guilty...and their deaths were probably the best outcome of their horrifying lives.

Bloodsport Fairy Tale is really the darkest arc in all of Black Lagoon. Hansel and Gretel were made into monsters, although it does not absolve them of their killings. I remember when I was 13 y/o when I watched the series and I started to cry when Hansel (as Gretel) was dealt with by Leroy.

I feel Rock's anger and frustration. Twins story was most tragic but now, after knowing what was happening in real life to real kids... Damn...

this is why Black Lagoon is my favourite anime cuz it doesn't shy away from reality and how f up life was for this characters and why the behave the way they do. Love your vids my guy🤝🤝

Thanks so much for doing an in-depth analysis to arguably the darkest characters in Black Lagoon. I remember first seeing the two-parter and ignorantly just writing them off as abused sociopaths. I finally rewatched the series during COVID and was even more fascinated and disturbed at their rationale, backstory and codependency. I had no clue about this abuse of human rights that the Romanian government adopted for decades and it flew over my head that Balalaika even mentioned Ceausecu and his policies. I really appreciate that Hiroe incorporated a historical tragedy into his characters. Adds so much more depth and depravity to the overarching themes and motif of the story. Thanks so much for analyzing and giving a brief history of such a horrible time period for an already impoverished country. Aside from the twin’s complete lack of morals or qualms with excessive murder and violence, by far, the most unsettling scene was when Rock was being seduced by Hansel and you could see his disturbed, pained, and sorrowful look on his face. He knew how irreparably damaged the twins were and could only offer some type of human compassion without the need of a quid-pro-quo. Just heartbreaking, especially when Balalaika delved further into their abuse and then just slowly smokes and watches Gretel bleed out and cry for help; completely emotionless in both scenes. Black Lagoon really does delve deep into the human psyche of what separates humans from monsters, and that line is constantly blurred. Quite ironic that now we have Romanians housing and supporting over 500k Ukrainian refugees, most of them children, too. I wonder if many Romanians feel the need to help after so many of their own children were force-bred and neglected. The news outlets should definitely shed light on this, as clearly most westerners don’t know about this atrocity.

I literally feel so bad for these kids and you know what makes me more upset the fact that some people say that they deserved their deaths and that nothing justifies their actions like seriously what is wrong with people? 😡

The vampire twins arc was one of the few arcs in an anime that left a huge impression on me

Fantastic job on the video, I had a little bit of information on Romania and abortion laws when I watched Black Lagoon for the first time but didn't realize just how horrific the conditions were and how the co-dependency between the twins was formed. Always loved shows like Black Lagoon that use real life history has the backdrop/background for their characters as opposed to fantasy. You earned a sub man, keep up the good work!

This video is TOTALLY getting demonitized. I'll be surprised if this video doesn't get black listed like Second Thought's video on the CIA... Which is a shame, because despite this being anime-related, it covers a serious subject that people should know about.

My man has done his research..top notch and on point as always..

These types of policies are clear examples of when empathy is forgone for efficiency. Population-based policies too often become numbers games, where the government concerns itself solely with the birth (or prevention of the birth) of a child while conveniently turning a blind eye to their resulting quality of life. The One Child policy, as an anti-natalist example, resulted in millions of undocumented secondborns and onward that were completely unprotected by the government due to the circumstances of their birth. The events you describe definitely mark a very harrowing moment in history.

Great video as always I am actually surprised you were able to research this tragic history and continuing it till the end! Great effort

I wish black lagoon had more seasons. It is one of my favourite shows it makes you feel that roanapur is a real place and all the people in it exist.

Thank you for this detailed video about this part of humanity that probably most people never knew about. It's important to remember the past, even something as horrible as this.

It's the most sad backstory and characters in anime history, they didn't grow and they refused to learn, so death was the best option for those poor twins

I'm rewatching black lagoon for the first time in years and yeah I cried after the twins arc. This is just terrible. Thanks for having the stomach to research this for the video.

It's the man of culture. You teach anime very well. You would make a good writer for a anime show.

Wow I’ve watched all ur black lagoon vids and rewatched it multiple times and I’m still amazed at how much stuff is in the show. I didn’t even now that this happened in Romania. I feel ashamed for watching this vid so late. Great vid as always much love ❤️

Amazing vid as usual. That first part was hard to watch, but thanks for the insight into the Romanian twins.

This is why Black lagoon is one of my favorite anime’s because it’s the most realistic anime I’ve ever seen

I don't know if I can... "like" this? But holy hell do I respect both this essay and the research that was put into it.

This was a pretty depressing video but overall it’s a great video to watch

I really was waiting for this video, thank you.

Thank you for your work. The history makes their story so much deeper and darker. I give everyone a short history lesson their first watch.

I like your video, well written and the mood is set perfectly. I legitimately forgot I was watching a Black lagoon video until Hansel and Gretel were brought up and it felt like whiplash. Also, you literally have several strands of hair hanging that I wanted to just snip and I couldn't take my eyes off it.

This is such a good video, thank you for sharing this history and for talking about black lagoon🙏🏾

This arc DEFINITELY wasn’t something I should’ve seen at 14 years old. Genuinely one of the most messed up villain backstories I’ve seen. Even among my favorite villains like Shigaraki and Z-One, Vampire Twins always felt like the strongest example of “monsters were made, not born.” More so because they’re just kids. Benny and Rock’s minute long scene on the boat really was the perfect description of the story. Edit: genuinely forgot. They got the ONLY unique credits in the anime. With both of the twins (presumably) in heaven. Finally knowing what, to them, is probably just a myth. Some genuine peace. I can’t in my own mind, think of any other villains that were so: evil, wicked beyond words, but heart wrenchingly sad and undeserving of what they went through.

I only recently started watching Black Lagoon out of a recommendation and I'm still trying to process this arc.

Amazing videos there was definitely a few times I was holding back tears this was depressing

This is well researched and disturbing to find out the twins' history is based on truth. This was recent and I never heard about this. Everything on all about this is sad

I’ve been trying to understand this since I was like 10 thank you so much for the explanation

As a Romanian, you did a fantastic job with the research!

Wow, this is a leaflet of history I was unaware even existed. The whole BL series you've produced has been eye opening and makes me appreciate the privelages olinhad growing up. Thank you for all the videos you make and even if the BL content can't continue forever please consider talking about events of history that could have been avoided had we been better. At the very least we can grow as viewers from this information being explained in such a fashion. Thanks again 🙂👍

This arc was hard to watch, I always end up crying to the finale. Beautiful analysis to a topic so little known nonetheless

the part that disturbed me the most over the twins was when rock was the only one that showed them any kindness, and the only way she or he felt they could show any gratitude was by flashing their privates as they had been taken advantage of and filmed in the past and they think thats their only form of value and nothing else.

Great BL video as always. The historical context of this show is impressive. The complete ffa that was eastern europe during the early 90s is not something that comes up often in anime/manga. Probably my favourite arc. Not because of it's dark subject matter but because it's the only time we really get to see how far Balalaika will go if someone crosses Hotel Moscow

Very dark topics in here. I was actually curious whether or not you'd make a episode on them.

If I made a video about this what I would have to say would be a little bit different but you hit the nail on the head. Good job

i saw this video awhile ago, viral i know this will get lost in the sea of comments, but this is amazing video, and even though ive never met u and probably never will i have a good gut feeling ur probably an amazing guy. 50k is a criminal amount for a creator like u to have. and i seriously hope u get millions of subs from here on.

Interesting video my friend

The twins are a great example of characters and themes which just wouldn't fly nowadays with all the censorship and the huge influence of online media. Take that as you will.

If Killua had a more fucked up backstory

as someone that was born in romania right as the country was getting used to the shift towards capitalism, i’m glad all of this is getting addressed. 🙏

I assume this was probably the hardest video to make, especially due to the context

This is why you don't ban abortion or contraception people!

The level of abuse in that Romanian history lesson is absolutely disturbing. Humanity has a right to be free, to live as we see fit and to do so as more than cattle or pets for a madman. Such people deserve a swift exit from this world at the end of violent rebellion and a length of rope.

dang the first half of this video is heartbreaking. it's a hell of a world we live in

This was the saddest arc of Black Lagoon, brief but horrifying, just like their lives

this hurt to watch. i needed to hear it though. this cant be allowed to ever exist again.

Another great video, enjoying the content greatly, Black Lagoon or otherwise Speaking of older animes, have you seen Ghost in the Shell: Stand alone complex? Seems like something that could be interesting to dig into

In a lot of institutions like orphanages most of the s!xuall abuse isn’t from the caretakers but the other children.

These kids and those 2 episodes had me traumatized bruh!!

I loved this small arc but man i did feel somewhat bad for the twins because they became this way due to the fucked-up world. I can understand why Balalalika still had to kill them or else it will show weakness and her enemies will start using child soldiers against her team. The whole situation was fucked

this actually made me tear up a bit(coming from someone very desensitized hahah). like damn man, some people just dont even get 10% of what could be considered a chance.

This arc terrified me. Even thinking about it is stressful.

Amongst Eastern Europeans born in the `90s and after,a common saying is "Everything the Soviet Union told us about communism was a lie, unfortunately everything they told us about capitalism was true."

What haunts me about this episode was when one of the twins lifted up their dress to show to Rock. It always bothered me as well. I wondered what he saw. How he felt. What were his thoughts. How tortured were those twins. Why? That episode always stuck with me..and it won't let me leave.

I don't know who are worse, The Vampire Twins or Roberta?.

Damn,this really was taken of a real live event,the romania part..🤯,this make it more impactfull

Hi my mom and her side of the family comes from romania only my mom and one of her two brothers left to hungaria but almost every year we go to romania in the summer yeah I live in the eastern block kind people who didn't live here don't really understand that we are still effected by this and that only owen pearents and grandpearents grew up there. My grandfater died 2 years ago and my gradmother died in 2005 from a heart problem that could have been fixed but they didn't acually my dads father made it possible for her to come to hungary but sadly her comdicion spred to her lungs and even operetions coudn't have saved her she pased away in an abulance... My grandfater brother (one of his 10 brothers just for a bit of context) who I saw this year helped in orpheneges I mean sometimes he could just try to help a lot of kids ended up in prisone thogh. It was and kinda is a shity sistem. On another note I was in hospital in csikszereda last year it isn't that bad soo thats something but especially south romania is really poor till this day tho a loot of romania tecnicly has a mostly hungarian population 2ww borders and what not made it that way. (sorry if my english is bad)

7:50 That quote really does hurt my heart. Those children...

This arc reminded me of Monster but just better. It got the point with just three episode instead of 74. Maybe I am wrong though.

Got into Black Lagoon 3 days ago when I saw a meme on Reddit with Gretel being shot in the head. Binged that show and caught up to the manga. Good shit :)

14:44 The "Avoiding Death" is explained really well. Why they can't leave their personas. In those forms, death (for them) is a at a distance. 18:45 I feel this point can be applied to all in the show.

No wonder Black Lagoon's author is so depressed, to portrait this kind of shit with such a profound understanding of them

It's crazy I've never heard about this

I played the Rockstar Game manhunt around the time I watched the arc. The amount of disturbance I felt all over traumatized me

well, i know this is inhumane to say but i dont think mrs. balalaika didnt do anything wrong from her perspective

I tried telling people about this. And how the past is being repeated

history may be repeating itself because of the recent overturn of Roe Vs Wade …

Hey ProfessorViral do you think of watch Alderman of the Sky yet???? I know this Anime is not so Viral but just make one full video of your opinion on it, if that’s okay with you do???

THis here Made me cry..just a bit. Lordy

Interesting video. Before starting i have to apologize for my english which is not my language. Do you know about the Daciano's family ? They were known to be monsters makers. Originated from Romania, they were providing the royal and imperial courts of the whole europe with "human-monsters" such as, for example, dwarves (the knowledge to create them was coming from China) which were in every court, you can notice it in old paintings from Velasquez "Las Meninas". They were able to provide on demand all kinds of humans whom had been "prepared" (mutilated) since their early age. It was very trendy for the most powerful ones to have some "freaks". Human zoos were still existing in the early 20th century. Check the Universal Expositions, etc. It was pleasing them, it was emphasizing the fact they were superiors. It was a topic of fascination and disgust and also a way to laugh at the misery and the differences of the lower casts. As for example in England there had a rooster-man... Yes. During his childhood, his vocal chords had been cut and he was only able to make sounds similar to a rooster and his only job in the royal palace was, just as the animal, to mark the hours of the sunset and sunrise, so he was running in the corridors and yelling aloud with his broken voice to welcome the rise of the sun and of the king which would enlight the world every morning as in some egyptian mythological daily rebirth. Some day the king got annoyed and made him killed and no more rooster man was employed in the court. Human monsters were the symbol of some twisted denial of humanity from the "nobles" towards the "commoners". Long story short, the commoners were like clay living beings that could be used and sculpted and exploited by the nobles, or the superior ones. In this way to see the world and the humanity, the ones being the most tortured and exploited were of course and as usual, the children. More malleable. Today's promotion strategy aim at the kids first. Propaganda too. Idiocracy too. In war zones it is the same. In mafias or criminal groups it is the same. In wealthiest families it is still the same. Some self induced eugenism and birth control to stay at the top in both worlds of light and shadow. The image of the Joker in Batman is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel "L"homme qui rit" (which is an incredible book about the control of the elites, noble families, but it's also a wonderful love story between two so called human monsters, about the delusional and naive traits from a commoner as he wants to confront the nobles, to change the world and break the circle. The main character was a kid whom was in those "comprachicos"networks and whom got disfigured just to become a creature for the entertainment, for the money, but whom had been saved by some very kind and wonderful and very smart travelling man. Check what were the "Comprachicos". Actually, the poorest families just couldnt deal with many kids to feed and most of the times they were selling their children. There had a wide market. On another hand the elite families also had their issues with unwanted births, such as bastards, and other children born because of some forbidden or dishonorable relation. There also had children born with diseases and or congenital malformation. They also had to disapear for the sake of the honor of the wealthiest families which had to stay untouched. So the exploitation and recycling of kids was a real business. 20th century put a veil on those ancient practices. The torture, the exploitation of kids (check the Red March in France (1750) which was actually the first popular revolt against the power of the king and his police covering massive rapes of kidnapped (by the police) kids. it was many years before 1789 French Revolution and it was much much more spontaneous. Of course it got tamed in a blood bath. So yeah... We covered or turned a blind eye to all the atrocities that were paving human history... And today the same kind of things happen everyday of course it never stopped. The parallel i dare do here between the creation of monsters and the child exploitation is not innocent. There are still the same problematics, but add to this the fact that eugenism enters in the equation aswell and you'll understand that the life of a child means just money. The level of denial and accepted submission of our societies today is far beyond the previous centuries one. I really enjoyed that anime Black Lagoon. There are always critics that could be made, but the intention to describe today's world via this prism of modern savagery is more than necessary. I wish some day there will have an anime with less fan service and going straight into the core of this hell that had been designed for he whole mankind by a few .

Rewatched this show fairly recently and skipped these episodes cause I didn't want to see it again. Not because it's not any good but because it's like films like Grave of the Fireflies, The Pianist or Come and See. You don't need to see it again because you've seen it; you'll never ever forget it.

This is also the reason why this is one of the few instances of anime that shows the abuse of minors that Im ok with. its to show the atrocities of the world, and doesnt glorify sexual exposure of minors to the audience. Something that some anime I believe desensitizes people to

I keep hearing this song in you videos especially in the pain of choice video

I remember seeing a movie about a young woman getting an illegal abortion in Romania, I forget the name but it was very powerful and realistically presented. Even after watching that and being thoroughly depressed I didn't know how horrible that part of Romania's history was. It's terrifying knowing that that's what so many people want for countries like the US despite near endless proof that it never turns out well. Even if you don't like abortion (I understand how it might make people uncomfortable) there are solutions like proper sex ed and easy access to/education about contraceptives that don't involve forced birth or ruining innocent lives.

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